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Michael Poke
Michael Poke was signed by manager Paul Buckle on a month-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion on new year's day 2012. He had previously played under Buckle at Torquay United, and was brought in to replace first choice goalie Scott Bevan, who was suffering from a calf injury. After playing in all six of The Pirates' first team matches in January, under three different managers, his loan was extended by new boss Mark McGhee for a further month and later extended again to the maximum permissible (for an emergency loan) 93 days. Unfortunately for Poke and for Rovers he picked up a season-ending injury in training on the same day he signed his second contract extension, thanks to his suffering ankle ligament damage in the incident. Prior to his injury he put in some superb performances between the sticks and was awarded the club's Player of the Month title for February, but he wouldn't play again for the club after taking the award. Career Michael started out as a trainee with Southampton, eventually breaking through into their professional ranks in 2004, but played just four league games in six years with the club. He was loaned out several times by The Saints, firstly to Oldham Athletic in 2005, but a broken finger sustained before he made his debut for them meant he returned to the south coast without having played a game. His second loan spell, to Northampton Town later the same year, was slightly more successful. He played two Football League Trophy matches for The Cobblers, but was still yet to make his Football League debut by the time he returned to his parent club. The following season he played three times in the Conference for Woking, then in January 2008 he began the first of his three loan spells at Torquay United, making a further four appearances in the Conference. He was recalled from his spell in Devon when Southampton suffered an injury crisis, and he finally made his Football League debut on 4 March 2008 in a Championship match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molinieux. He went on to play a further three matches that season, all four games coming in an eleven-day period. The 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons both saw him returning to Torquay United for full-season loans, before being released by Southampton in the summer of 2010. He was picked up by Brighton & Hove Albion, initially on a one-year deal, and although he played just a single League Cup match for them in the whole of his first season, Brighton saw fit to retain his services. He joined Rovers on loan on 1 January 2012, almost 17 months after he had last played in a competitive match. Following his eight-game stint on loan at the Memorial Stadium he was released by Brighton at the end of the 2011–12 season, re-joining Torquay United for a fourth spell with them shortly afterwards. Career stats Record against Rovers Michael has played two competitive first team matches against Bristol Rovers, both while playing for Torquay United in the 2012–13 season. Video Category:Players Category:Goalkeepers Category:Loaned players Category:21 November Category:Players born in 1985 Category:Players who joined in 2012 Category:Southampton Category:Oldham Athletic Category:Northampton Town Category:Woking Category:Torquay United Category:Brighton & Hove Albion